


Jongdae vs. the Supernatural Agenda

by doitsushine92



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Brief mention of religion, Comedy, Fluff, M/M, Mythology - Freeform, OT12 - Freeform, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Supernatural Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 01:27:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14462166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doitsushine92/pseuds/doitsushine92
Summary: In which Jongdae isn't the only one with a secret.Or, the eleven times Jongdae's housemates come clean about their true identities and the one time Jongdae does.





	Jongdae vs. the Supernatural Agenda

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #L76
> 
> Pairing: Chen/Suho
> 
> Monster(s): vampires + surprises
> 
> Rating: PG-15
> 
> Warnings: brief discussion of religious beliefs.
> 
> Word Count: 17.6k
> 
> Author's Note: well this was a ride! A huge thank you to my beta for putting up with me and helping me edit this, ily <3 to the prompter, I really wish I did your prompt justice. And to the mods, congrats on a successful round!!

Jongdae thinks he’s being real cool. He thinks he’s got everyone fooled and that no one can tell his darker than usual eyes every few weeks, or the drops of blood on his shirts or – a particularly tricky one – how he doesn’t even fucking sleep.

He has two roommates: Sehun and Chanyeol. They are the kind of guys who will stay up all night playing video games and then wake up at ass o’clock in the morning for their early classes, which works just fine for Jongdae – he stays awake with them and then pretends to wake up with them. He usually pulls the covers up to his chin when he hears their breathing pick up, snuggling up on his bed in a way that’s admittedly cosy, rising up slowlys with bleary eyes when they start moving around.

The blood stains, well, the first time he came up with some half-assed excuse for a nosebleed that Minseok didn’t seem to buy one bit. He’d hastily shoved the T-shirt into the washer and texted Kyungsoo to ask how to remove blood, to which Kyungsoo got alarmed and dropped everything to go to the house and check up on him. Jongdae appreciated the sentiment and bought him his favourite cake the next day. Ever since then, he has to pretend to get nosebleeds anytime he gets sloppy during his feedings.

As for his eyes… he mumbles words about lightning and the mood but doesn’t actually have an answer for that. And it isn’t like any of them pushed the subject so he’s fine.

~

Hunting isn’t Jongdae’s favourite aspect of being a vampire. He prefers the speed and the strength, both very handy for sports. Some guys in his Uni like to get together once or twice a week for some soccer in the plaza outside the Languages faculty and for some strange reason Jongdae is unstoppable when he’s got the ball.

But hunting. It’s messy, to put it in simple words. Jongdae never kills, he doesn’t have the stomach for that, but even after all these years, he can’t exactly wipe the memories as well as he wishes he could. And it’s not like he can ask his Sire to help him since the old man disappeared a few months after changing him –he was still in his teething phase, for Pete’s sake! Alas, Jongdae went to a pet store and bought one of those chewing toys meant for dogs. He had to keep it hidden from the others in his underwear drawer, but all the trouble proved worth it whenever he felt his canines dig into his lower lip.

Tonight, Jongdae dons a nice outfit and heads to the vampire club in Hongdae with the purpose of finding a good little donor that doesn’t know him and is willing to keep their mouths shut. He doesn’t usually resort to such places but he’s desperate to have just one meal that doesn’t involve staring into someone’s eyes for long minutes until his victim’s gaze clouds over.

Vampire clubs are few and spread far apart in order to keep as much secrecy as possible. Only a few humans know of their existence, and it’s usually because they were victims before and their memories didn’t quite go away. Jongdae hopes he doesn’t mess up like that, ever.

Yixing questions him before he leaves, asking if he’s going on a date. Jongdae stutters something about a guy that came into the store and ducks out the first chance he gets.

The night air is thrilling, the people out clubbing are all young and very much alive, their blood pumping through their veins. Jongdae feels intoxicated just being surrounded by so many humans in the prime of their youth.  
He allows himself to be picky tonight and searches for the perfect donor. He eventually settles for a pretty girl with long black hair and thin lips; her blood tastes like everything that’s good in the world, making Jongdae feel exhilarated.

Jongdae whistles a random tune on his walk home, a sprint on his step. He’s in such a good mood he almost doesn’t notice the big fucking dragon at the back of the house. Alas, he notices and Jongdae halts in his step, backtracking to take a good look at their backyard. 

Right there, hidden below the tall trees Lu Han cherishes so much, almost camouflaged with the shadows, is a dragon. Jongdae, courtesy of the fresh blood heightening his senses, can see a vague shape, but if he isn’t mistaken the thing is all black, even the eyes. Said eyes are staring right at him.

“Holy fuck,” Jongdae murmurs. The dragon only keeps staring.

Jongdae walks carefully towards the beast, noticing how the dragon lowers its head to keep the eye contact. It’s a little unnerving but Jongdae bears through it. By the time he’s standing right at its feet, Jongdae has made out other features – the dragon’s head is shaped like a horse and the horns are like a deer’s; a long neck that reminds Jongdae of a snake and the belly looks a little like a mollusc’s.

“Hey, little buddy,” Jongdae whispers. The dragon scoffs and a puff of hot air hits Jongdae square in the face. If he were human he’d probably have burns all over. “Okay. Hey, big buddy.”

The dragon is obviously far more pleased with that. Jongdae holds eye contact as he reaches out with utmost care, weary that the beast might bite his hand off if he makes a wrong move. The dragon allows him to get closer though, even lowers its head down a little for better access. The skin is rough, sort of jagged, but smooth at the same time. Jongdae has never felt anything like it before and he’s fascinated.

“I’ve never seen a dragon before,” Jongdae says softly. He keeps rubbing the snout with his hand, every now and then taking glances at the dragon’s eyes to find them amused. Jongdae wonders if dragons can be cocky.

Suddenly, the beast steps back. Jongdae fears he’s about to get eaten, but instead, the dragon seems to shrink in size, glowing golden, and next thing he knows he’s not staring at a dragon but at his roommate Yifan – naked, but still Yifan.

Needless to say, Jongdae screams. And then he blacks out.

 

When he wakes up again he’s lying on the grass outside the house, Yifan is no longer naked and he has a pounding headache. Yifan is sitting next to him, back against a tree, looking as normal as ever in jeans and a white T-shirt, as if he weren’t a dragon mere minutes ago.

“You were out of it for five minutes,” Yifan informs him. Jongdae rolls over, pressing his face to the grass and groaning.

He doesn’t know what to say. He blurts out, “What the hell Yifan?” before he can stop himself.

Yifan smiles softly. Jongdae marvels at how shy the tall male can be when his entire appearance could make anyone think he just stepped off a runway in Milan. “I’m a dragon,” he says simply.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Jongdae mutters. Yifan runs a hand through his hair, sighing like he’s trying to figure out how to explain things to him.

“I come from a long lineage of dragons,” he begins. “Most of my relatives are deep sea dragons and I have a few cousins who like to live in the clouds, but human life is entertaining so I stay here more often.”

“And why were you…?” Jongdae lets the question hang in the air, mostly because he doesn’t know how to put it.

“It’s like,” Yifan muses, “an itch. And it can only be scratched when I’m in full form. I can usually get by with simple things like letting my claws grow or sharpening my teeth, but tonight it was too strong for that.”

“And do you eat…?”

“Meat,” Yifan laughs. “Cows, mostly. Sometimes sheep. Not humans. Don’t worry Dae.”

Jongdae wants to say that he’s not worried about himself. Yifan trusts him with a huge secret, Jongdae wants to reciprocate and tell him about his own condition. But all that comes out of his mouth is a breathy, “Good to know, hyung.”

Yifan searches his face, probably looking for a sign of discomfort, but finds none. At least Jongdae doesn’t think so. They spend the following two hours talking in the backyard, Jongdae asking all sorts of questions and Yifan answering to every single one of them.

Jongdae learns that Yifan is a baby by dragon’s standards, only four hundred years old. He’s the youngest in his family and is a mountain dragon, hence why he’s living in the house. There’s a small treasure hidden in the peaks behind their home, not too much but enough to keep him tied to the place.

There are many types of dragons, too – sea dragons, space dragons, sky dragons. Their royalty actually lives in the clouds, huge glass castles made of dragons themselves. Some are old, ancient even, and hold the wisdom of their universe that only they’re privy to. There are dragons that actually swim through the galaxy, their skin made of constellations. Jongdae’s favourites, though, turn out to be the mountain dragons. Not because Yifan is one, but because they are the kindest dragons, the most peaceful and calm dragons. They rarely ever leave their lair, only to look for food, and always help lost hikers find their way home.

Dragon treasures are cursed, Jongdae discovers. He’d made a joke about finding Yifan’s little riches and buying himself an ice cream machine, only to be thoroughly scolded on dragon superstitions and rules. No stealing their gold; got it.

When their talk is over, Yifan and Jongdae walk inside their home together, waving goodnight when they reach the staircase. Yifan turns left to head to his room on the bottom floor, while Jongdae goes upstairs to his in the second storey.

Sehun is still awake despite the late hours, playing a game on his phone. Junmyeon has long since given up on his lecture about using the phone in the dark since Sehun didn’t seem to be keen on listening anytime soon.

“You were out late,” Sehun notes, lifting his eyes briefly to look at Jongdae before his attention goes back to whatever he’s playing. “Hot date?”

Jongdae laughs nervously, hiding his face from Sehun’s sharp gaze by looking for his pajamas. He manages to stutter out a quick response before fleeing to the bathroom; lying to Sehun has always been somehow harder than lying to the others.

~

It isn’t until the next morning that the whole conversation sinks in for him, the memory not only of everything Yifan confided him in but – even worse – the sight of his bare body etched in his memory for some perturbing reason.

The first few days he has trouble holding a conversation with the older man without the image of his nakedness flashing before his eyes and Jongdae doesn’t enjoy that one bit so he kind of… scurries off every time he has the chance.

One evening, after Jongdae squeaked and hurried away from the kitchen when Yifan asked if he wanted extra olives on his pizza, Junmyeon goes after him to ask what’s wrong. To his credit, Jongdae doesn’t gape and stutter like he usually does when Junmyeon even so much as glances his way.

“Why do you ask?” Jongdae mumbles.

Junmyeon frowns, worrying his bottom lip in concentration and sending Jongdae’s brain into overdrive. So maybe he’s a little bit in love with the man – sue him.

It actually started out as a minor infatuation, nothing too bad. He just thought Junmyeon was handsome and kind, and hey, isn’t that what his dream man is like? Then he actually got to know him and it all spiralled out of control.

Now, Jongdae can proudly say he’s thoroughly fucked. And totally not paying attention to what Junmyeon is telling him in the slightest. Maybe it’s time to tune back into the conversation.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Junmyeon smiles a little bit. Jongdae wants to cry. “I said - why have you been avoiding Yifan? Did something happen between the two of you? Do you want to talk about it?” Jongdae wonders if it’s a good idea or not to tell him. Not the whole story, of course, that’s not his secret to tell, but maybe the part that has him flinching away every time Yifan so much as asks for the time.

“I saw…” Jongdae starts. He can’t make himself finish the sentence, and definitely not with Junmyeon’s brown eyes staring at him like that. Jongdae has to look away, concentrating instead on his shoes. “I saw Yifan naked.”

“Oh,” is all Junmyeon says.

It seems like there’s something else he wants to say and Jongdae worries that he’s mad or upset or jealous he and Yifan are very close what if Junmyeon has a thing for him what if they are together what if Junmyeon hates him now oh god Jongdae can’t deal with that. When Jongdae finally looks up, he finds Junmyeon pressing his lips tightly together. Did he really make him upset? But then, he realizes that Junmyeon is holding back his laughter. Jongdae realizes this when he finally looks up in worry and finds Junmyeon pressing his lips tightly together. Jongdae frowns, not a big fan of being made fun of, even if it was Junmyeon.

“Dae,” Junmyeon starts. Jongdae thinks his name sounds infinitely better when it comes from his mouth. “We live together – we’re bound to see each other naked every once in a while.”

“Well, yeah, but,” Jongdae splutters. “My roommates, maybe, and only because we’ve known each other for so long.”

“So, you’ve never seen anyone naked aside from Chanyeol and Sehun?”

“And Kyungsoo,” Jongdae adds softly. “We used to take mud baths together when we were three – that counts, right? And Baekhyun, but haven’t we all?”

Junmyeon is laughing again. Jongdae trembles a little. “I guess, yeah.”

Suddenly, a loud bellow of Jongdae’s name that can only come from Chanyeol startles them both. Jongdae peeks around Junmyeon to see what the commotion is all about; frowning when he notices Chanyeol dangling car keys in his fingers.

“The pizza place says they can’t deliver until the storm lets up,” Chanyeol says. “But we’re too starving to wait so tag, you’re it.”

Jongdae groans but takes the keys from him anyway, swatting at his arm when Chanyeol giggles like a child and refuses to go with him. Junmyeon waves him goodbye when Jongdae ducks out the door, making him feel better instantly.

The weather outside is cold, harsh and unforgiving. The rain pelts down on him hard, hitting his face when he tilts his head up momentarily to look at the sky. Despite the sheer size of their living facilities, the garage is surprisingly small and can’t fit all five cars, so they take turns. Today Jongdae had to park in the driveway and the short walk from the entrance to his car leaves him soaked to the bone.

Thankfully his car has heating and Jongdae cranks it up – pop culture is a liar, being a vampire doesn’t make you immune to the cold. Jongdae sighs dreadfully and pulls out of the driveway carefully, turning on the blinking lights for security and driving under the speed limit.

The establishment isn’t too far away and soon enough Jongdae is loading boxes of pizza into his car, tacking them one on top of the other in the backseat and securing them with a seatbelt. The clerk at the cashier wishes him good luck on his commute back home without taking his eyes off of the window, watching the storm.

The rain is even worse on the way back. Jongdae drives slower than before, keeping a sharp eye out. It’s when he’s on the single road that leads to their house that he sees a corgi running from under one tree to another.  
Jongdae’s bleeding heart wins over his common sense and he pulls over, running out of the car to where the little doggy is. The poor thing is shivering and whimpering under the rain. Jongdae coaxes it - with a quick, intrusive glance confirms its masculinity - into his jacket and zips the garment up once the puppy is safely tucked inside.

“S’okay, buddy,” Jongdae tells him soothingly, rubbing the cute head that peeks out of his jacket. “We’re almost home and you’ll be dry in no time.”

The others react loudly to the puppy, almost more excited about it than the pizza. Jongdae grabs a slice of pizza, rolls it up, and sticks it in his mouth before taking the puppy to the bathroom to dry it up. The dog yaps cutely and nips at his fingers in what Jongdae assumes appreciation.

“So, what are you gonna do with the pup?” Minseok asks him. The older boy has the puppy on his lap and is rubbing circles on its tummy, much to its obvious pleasure. Chanyeol also ruffles the dog’s hair and smiles when the puppy licks at him.

“I’ll ask around town, see if anyone is missing a pet,” Jongdae shrugs. Then, with a quick look around the kitchen, asks, “Where’s Baekhyun? Shouldn’t he be back already?”

“He’s asleep in his room,” Sehun says uninterestedly, eyes trained on the TV. “He got home a few minutes after you left.”

Jongdae ‘ah’s, not pushing the subject. Baekhyun’s day job at a convenience store coupled with his night job at a strip club and his classes don’t leave him with much time to rest, so they usually leave him alone whenever he crashes.

Once he’s done with his share of the pizza – he doesn’t need to eat but he enjoys the taste anyway – he notices that the puppy is fast asleep on Minseok’s legs. Jongdae motions Minseok to hand him over and tells them he’s going to put it on his bed where he can cover it up with a blanket.

Once the puppy is safely snuggled under the covers, Jongdae walks out again and shuts the door behind him softly, going to the bathroom in their floor to wash his face with some warm water. He takes a little longer than usual, trying to get rid of the numbness of his fingers.

Back downstairs, Baekhyun is noisily digging into his pizza, half-naked and draped over Jongin and Sehun on the couch. The two maknaes don’t seem bothered with him, though Jongin keeps sneaking glances at his bare upper body before looking away like he’d been burned.

Honestly, Baekhyun surely wouldn’t mind being ogled at, but Chanyeol would – he goes to the club with him every night after all, as his personal bodyguard and all. Kyungsoo once had to go instead, since Chanyeol was busy working on a song for his Music Comp class, and when he came back he couldn’t believe the number of people who tried to grab at Baekhyun when he walked around the establishment. Baekhyun had blushed shyly, snuggling into Lu Han and asking to be petted.

They’re watching some random rom-com playing on cable, Chanyeol guffawing loudly at the dumber parts and Kyungsoo throwing balled up napkins at him to shut him up. Baekhyun falls asleep halfway through the movie, burrowing into Sehun’s tummy and kicking his feet until he’s comfortable.  
The movie isn’t even that interesting, Jongdae has to admit, but he still watches it until the end because Yixing is the one who wanted to watch it and he can’t just say no to him. He and Yifan share a fond look when Yixing smiles brightly at the end, clearly satisfied with the turn of events.

Jongdae stands up and stretches, groaning when his joints pop and lock into place. He waves goodnight to the others, avoiding Kyungsoo’s pointed look to get him to pick up the dirty dishes and put them in the sink.

Upon entering his room, Jongdae notices the puppy is gone. He frowns, checks under the bed, under Chanyeol’s and Sehun’s, and in the half-opened closet, but there’s no sign of him. But just when he’s about to head outside to look for him, the puppy comes bounding into the room, barking softly and running circles around Jongdae’s feet.

“There you are,” Jongdae greets him, picking him up. The puppy does a fair attempt at licking his face, but Jongdae is a little too fast for him. “When did you get out?”

Chanyeol enters the room then and immediately takes the puppy from him, cooing and nuzzling into the fur. The corgi doesn’t seem to mind much, but then Chanyeol starts doing weird sounds and the doggy tries to bite his nose off. Chanyeol gives it the stink eye and continues to pet and cuddle him.

After some manhandling, Jongdae gets Chanyeol to give up the puppy. He places him down on the bed and goes to the dresser to pick out the softest pajamas he has just because he can. When he turns around, he finds Chanyeol sneaking the dog out of Jongdae’s bed and into his own.

Jongdae ignores the cheeky grin Chanyeol flashes at him and leaves for the bathroom to change. When he gets back, Chanyeol is sound asleep with the puppy in his arms. Jongdae smiles amusedly and heads for his own bed.

 

Half an hour later, while Jongdae is lazily scrolling through Twitter, Sehun enters the room freshly showered and only a towel around his waist. Jongdae does his best to look literally anywhere but at him, while the younger boy looks for a shirt and pants (pants, oh please god find some underwear you heathen.) Finally, he pulls his underwear on and Jongdae can breathe again. He shouldn’t feel this affected after a year, and yet he does.

You see, about eleven and a half months ago, Jongdae had a little slip in his self-control and sort of slept with Sehun (read: let Sehun ram him into the mattress). They never spoke about it and things didn’t change between them and Jongdae was very happy about that. A misstep shouldn’t cost him a friendship and even if Sehun was incredibly (mouth-watering, deliriously) good looking, Jongdae is still in love with Junmyeon.

Right?

Right.

Even if he stumbles through his sentence when Sehun bids him goodnight and collapses on his bed, bare back on display. Even if Jongdae has to drag his traitorous eyes away from Sehun.

Right.

 

Hours later, when Jongdae has fallen into a comatose-like state – he’s not asleep, but his body seems to be, and it actually helps a lot to ease his mind and rest up before the next day – he hears the puppy get out of bed and move towards the door.

Jongdae cracks an eye open and watches it nudge the door ajar so it can slip out. Thinking it might be hungry or needs to do its business; Jongdae follows quietly so he doesn’t wake anyone.

He turns the corner and sees the corgi trying to get into Kyungsoo and Baekhyun’s room. He smiles fondly and takes a step forward to pick it up, but stumbles back in shock when the puppy is no longer a puppy, but Baekhyun, butt-naked and trying to get into his room.

“Goddammit Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun rumbles, twisting the knob repeatedly to no avail.

Jongdae makes a sort of choked noise that attracts Baekhyun’s attention and they gape at each other in horror. Baekhyun eventually notices he’s naked and squeaks, hands flying down to shield his privates. Like Jongdae is going to look at those willingly.

“You saw nothing,” Baekhyun hisses, glaring and failing to look intimidating. He looks like a disgruntled puppy and yeah, okay, Jongdae rather gets it.

Jongdae gives a thumb up, turns on his heels and hightails it the fuck out. He’ll deal with all of this tomorrow, maybe. He’s not making any promises. 

 

He does have to deal with it in the morning. Not by choice, no, but because Baekhyun breaks into the bathroom while he’s showering and closes on him, arms crossed over his chest and holding a pair of chopsticks in his hands. Jongdae doesn’t even want to ask.

“About last night,” Jongdae starts nervously. He tries to reach for his towel but Baekhyun narrows his eyes and blocks his path. “I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about. I promise.”

Baekhyun’s gaze softens, his arms falling limply to his side. Jongdae waits as patiently as he can for him to say something, trying very hard not to feel self-conscious about his nakedness and failing. He hides behind the shower curtain and watches Baekhyun think deeply.

“Alright,” Baekhyun nods. He steps away from the towel rack and Jongdae lunges forward, thankful for the opportunity to cover up. Baekhyun turns around, most likely to leave so Jongdae can have some privacy.

Before he can walk out the door, however, Jongdae calls out after him, “Wait!” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, a feat not many in the house are capable of, and Jongdae’s balls crawl back inside his body because puppy or not, Baekhyun could still kill him with a pair of tweezers. “I, uh,” he stumbles through his words. “I have some questions…?”

The sentence itself comes out as a question. Baekhyun smiles a little at that, easing Jongdae’s nerves. It’s fine; it’s still Baekhyun, who once got his head stuck in a railing because Kyungsoo dared him to.

“Okay, we can talk tonight before my shift,” Baekhyun says. He does leave this time. Jongdae releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

 

Baekhyun leads Jongdae to the rooftop so they can talk more privately. Before they climbed out the window in Jongin’s room (since it’s the only one they could use to get to the roof), Chanyeol had complained loudly that they weren’t including him in the super-secret conversation they would have.

“It’s super-secret for a reason, Yeol,” Baekhyun reminded him, pushing Jongdae up the stairs.

“Besides, we can’t talk shit about you if you’re there,” Jongdae said nonchalantly, hands digging into his pockets. The outraged cry Chanyeol gives is totally worth it.

Up in the roof, there’s a little area that’s flatter than the others, and just large enough to fit both of them comfortably. Reaching it can be a little tricky since it involves hanging half your body out the third-floor window to haul yourself up, then lots of wiggling until you’re safely on the roof.

Baekhyun goes first and nearly kicks Jongdae in the face when he gets to the wiggling part. Jongin aids him by grabbing his feet and giving him a push, and soon enough Jongdae is the one twisting and grunting until he can join Baekhyun.

“So, you’re half dog?”

Jongdae starts laughing when Baekhyun tries to shove him off the roof, grumbling about disrespectful assholes.

“I’m a shapeshifter,” Baekhyun tells him firmly, scowling at a still giggling Jongdae. “We’re sort of a dying race. Centuries ago, shapeshifters could change shape anytime they wanted, hide in the woods and go back to their villages when they were done. But now, you can’t go missing for more than a day without your friends freaking out, and there’s practically no space left to roam free. Many choose to ignore their abilities; even more are forced to do so by their parents.

“When I was eight and ready to shift for the first time, my mom told me to choose a form that would be the most comfortable given the circumstances. I chose a corgi because, really, no one is going to question a cute puppy.” Baekhyun finishes with a smile.

“I didn’t question the cute puppy,” Jongdae muses, “and ended up seeing my best friend naked. I hate you.”

Baekhyun throws his head back and laughs, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Is it possible for your human form and animal form to mix up? Because you’re so much like a puppy it’s funny.”

“Never happens,” Baekhyun says. “I’ve always looked like this, that’s why I chose corgi in the first place.”

“And you never thought to tell me? Your bro?” Jongdae fake gasps, clutching his chest right over his heart.

Baekhyun smiles amusedly and says, “We all have secrets, Dae.”

Jongdae’s smile slowly wipes off his face, remembering that yes, he does have a secret. He considers telling Baekhyun, knows he wouldn’t judge. But again, the words die in his throat and all he does is pat Baekhyun’s shoulder and say, “Water under the bridge.”

~

Two weeks later sees Jongdae navigating through their mess of a garden. Lu Han and Minseok insist they let their grass and flowers grow, only trimming when necessary, but now Jongdae is starting to believe they need to hire a landscaper as soon as possible. He’s pretty sure they could get someone to make their trees shaped like a bunny; Yixing would probably like that too.

Jongdae is on a mission right now. Kyungsoo had instructed him to go out and get carrots from the backyard, since they were supposed to be having soup for dinner and soup without carrots is no good. Jongdae had agreed easily to his task, especially since it frees him from having to do the dishes later tonight. He thought it would be simple, but he wasn’t counting on the weed in their backyard to be this tall and impossible to get through.

The carrots are planted about a hundred feet from the house, along with tomatoes and some potatoes too. It was Lu Han’s idea, after one day Kyungsoo came home grumbling about how expensive everything is. It really was a great help, if Jongdae must say; they save a lot of money this way.

Jongdae bends his knees, careful not to let his pants touch the dirt, sets the basket Kyungsoo gave him on the ground and reaches for the first carrot. He gives a yank but fails to get it out. Jongdae frowns, repositions his legs and tries again. No success either. If anything, the carrot looks to be buried even deeper than before.

With a huff, Jongdae sits down, now uncaring if his trousers are ruined (they’re Baekhyun’s anyway). He gives another pull, and the carrot gives. He might have used a little too much strength though, because he falls over backward and even does an involuntary cartwheel, landing on his back. Jongdae sits up, ruffling his hair in annoyance when he hears laughter.

He’s not crazy, he just literally heard someone laughing. What’s worse is that the sound was way too familiar.

“Minseok-hyung?” Jongdae calls out. The laughter cuts off abruptly. There’s then the sound of scurrying around like Minseok is trying to hide. The thing is: Jongdae can’t find any sign of his hyung anywhere. He’s just about to give up his search, dumping the carrot still in his hand on the basket when he sees movement from the corner of his eye. Jongdae turns around abruptly, eyes lingering on the uplifted soil near the carrot patch.

There’s an inkling feeling in the bottom of his stomach. Call it instincts, a hunch, or maybe just fate, Jongdae gets up and follows the path of the dirt, careful not to step on any of the veggies on his way.

It’s almost at the end of the garden that Jongdae finds Minseok. Or what he assumes is Minseok. Because the creature standing with his back to Jongdae is much shorter than Minseok usually is, his hair is a lot darker and has a long curl at the top, the tip almost making a heart and his clothes are filthy as if he’s spent a long time rolling around in the mud.

“Hyung?” Jongdae says meekly.

Jongdae’s suspicions are confirmed when the creature turns around and his face is revealed, Minseok’s sheepish smile a sharp contrast to the small fangs glinting in the sunlight. Jongdae would be a little more surprised if it weren’t because two others of his roommates are supernatural too. 

“Hey Jongdae,” Minseok’s voice is casual. He waves his hand at Jongdae, who in turn makes an expression akin to a goldfish. Minseok doesn’t laugh at him but his eyes are twinkling in amusement. “I’m sure you have many questions but Kyungsoo is expecting those carrots. Come on, I’ll help you.”

Jongdae can only watch in amazement as Minseok grows to his usual height, the curl in his hair shrinking to what Jongdae always sees, and his teeth go back to normal. Then, he picks up the basket with the carrots and starts his walk back to the house, leaving a dumbstruck Jongdae behind.

Jongdae doesn’t get the opportunity to ask Minseok what the frickity frack was that until a week later. Everyone’s gone for the night, either to meet up with friends or work night shifts, leaving the two alone in the house.

Of course, it isn’t quite as easy as one might think. Minseok is sneaky and quiet and pretty hard to find, even at home. Jongdae tries to catch him multiple times but the older man always manages to somehow scatter off before he gets the chance.

Finally, after an hour of “Here, Minseok hyung, come here hyung,” Jongdae corners Minseok in the living room.

“So,” Minseok hums, rocking back and forth on his toes. “Did you want to talk about something in particular?” 

“Uh, yeah!” Jongdae scoffs. He waves his hands around for emphasis as he says, “What the hell?! You were this tall and then you weren’t anymore and you were running around in the dirt and you had fangs and that freaking curl -!”

Minseok laughs. “Jongdae-yah, please take a breath before you pass out. And for your information, I’m an elf.”

“A what?” Did he just have an aneurysm? “An elf. You’re an elf.”

Minseok smiles amusedly. He nods, “Yup. I thought it’d take you longer to find out but congrats!”

Jongdae tries not to let his eye twitch at the nonchalance Minseok is showing to this whole ordeal. “What?” 

“Jongdae-yah, I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that many of us in the house aren’t exactly humans,” Minseok explains – well, Jongdae guesses he’s trying to explain, but the vampire is still as lost as he was five minutes ago. “And ever since you found out about Baekhyun, we’ve been placing bets on how long it’s going to take you to figure out everyone else.”

“I feel strangely used,” Jongdae says.

“Don’t!” Minseok laughs. “You just earned Kyungsoo two hundred thousand won.” 

Jongdae stares.

“Anyway, would you like to hear about my species?”

“All I know is, you’re supposed to be the reason I have nightmares,” Jongdae pauses and then gasps dramatically, “Hyung!”

Minseok laughs good-naturedly. “That was in medieval times, Jongdae-yah,” he explains. “We don’t do that anymore. At least I never have.”

“So what do you do?” Jongdae is overly suspicious now. He’s remembering every little horror story he heard when he was a kid from his mom and he remembers why they scared him so much.

“I help out in the garden,” Minseok shrugs. “That’s a personal skill though and it has nothing to do with elves. As an elf, I only use the special privilege of turning small because that way I can reach the trickier roots and make sure all the plants grow healthily. To be honest, I know elves don’t have the best reputation -”

“You kidnap kids -”

“And it sucks -”

“You might be the one to give neuralgic pain to poor mortals -”

“But I’m nice!” Minseok finishes with a flourish. “So, we’re cool, right?”

Jongdae nods. “Of course. You’re my favourite, hyung, even if you sit on my chest while I sleep and make me have nightmares about the most awful things at night.”

 

“Oh, and by the way,” Minseok tells him an hour later when they’re sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch watching old reruns, “if you could keep to yourself that you know about the bets, it would be great. I wasn’t exactly supposed to tell you.”

“Then why did you?” Jongdae asks. He’s not so annoyed anymore by the whole thing, but his mind is still whirring.

“Because you should know,” Minseok shrugs. “It might make it easier for you to pick up on the hints, too.”

“So basically, the fastest I figure it out, the more money you make,” Jongdae deadpans. Minseok doesn’t say anything but his smile speaks volumes.

~

There’s a new club in town. Everyone in their Uni has been talking about it for at least a month before its open, and there’s no one Jongdae knows that isn’t going to the grand opening – especially since they announced there’d be a discount for students.

Jongdae finds himself roped into a night outing with his roommates. That afternoon, the house is buzzing with activity, the two bathrooms always busy and the countertops littered with makeup courtesy of (mostly) Baekhyun and Zitao. Jongdae lets the younger boy apply eyeliner on him, and then Zitao moves on to wrestle eyeshadow on Junmyeon. Jongdae looks good with makeup so he doesn’t really mind. Kyungsoo does fight Baekhyun with all his might, but he can’t go up against Jongdae, Chanyeol and Baekhyun so he ends up with eyes lined in black and lips glossy with lipstick. He looks good.

His bedroom has become more of a battlefield than an actual room. There are pants everywhere because Sehun likes to wear asphyxiating jeans and he, Baekhyun, and Zitao are trying on every combination possible with a bored-out-of-his-mind Yifan giving them either a thumb up or a thumb down. Junmyeon fidgets nervously by the doorway, sneaking worried glances at the pants. His eyelids have pink and gold eyeshadow on them and he has eyeliner on, making him look way too hot for Jongdae’s unbeating heart to handle. “Are you sure you should wear those so tight?”

Zitao stares at him. Baekhyun doesn’t really lift his eyes off the growing piles of clothes on the ground, but he does say in his general direction, “Hyung, we need to look good tonight. Sehunnie and Taozi are taking advantage of their legs tonight and so I need the extra push too.”

“But you have good legs,” Yifan points out. Jongdae remembers how, when they first met, he thought Yifan was hitting on every single one of them, but he’s learned that he actually simply likes to state what he considers to be obvious.

“But they’re not long!” Baekhyun whines. “Not like theirs…”

Junmyeon gives a long-suffering sigh and practically flees before he has an ACV. Baekhyun stares after him and asks, “Was it something I said?”

 

The club is understandingly packed. Jongdae loses sight of his housemates the moment they step foot through the door, although he can hear Baekhyun and Chanyeol hooting and hollering near the bar. He can see Yifan’s mop of blond hair and he and Zitao are probably together.

Jongdae worms his way to a table, avoiding as best as he can the writhing bodies on the dance floor. He mostly ignores the scent of blood, but every once in a while, there is someone who smells too good and Jongdae has to drag himself away. It just serves to remind him he hasn’t fed in over a month.

There’s an empty table that seems big enough for all twelve of them at the back of the club. He seats down, his senses picking up the scent of leather seats and some sort of cleaning supply that left the surface of the table squeaky clean. Jongdae already loves this club.

A waitress takes his order and right as she leaves Lu Han finds him. “Dae!” he shouts. “There you are!”

Lu Han takes a seat right next to him in the booth, his breath already smelling like alcohol and something fruity. His hair is pushed back on his forehead and his eyes are glinting with excitement. “Dude, this place is awesome. Are you listening to this music?!”  
“Yes, hyung,” Jongdae nods. Sober Lu Han is hard enough to handle, drunken Lu Han is a menace. “Where is everyone else?”  
“Well,” Lu Han drawls, swaying dangerously side to side. “Baekhyunnie is already dancing with some guy while Chanyeol sulks. Kyungsoo is making fun of him. Sehunnie and Jonginnie are dancing with each other and that’s probably the hottest thing I’ve seen. Oh, and your boyfriend is looking for you.”

Jongdae nods. Then he processes what Lu Han just said. “My what?!” he sputters.

Lu Han giggles like a fucking five-year-old. “You know, Junnie? Your boyfriend?”

“He’s – he’s not my – we’re not -!” Jongdae is, obviously, at a loss for words. “Where did you get the idea Junmyeon-hyung and I are boyfriends?”

“You mean you’re not?” Lu Han lifts a highly judgemental eyebrow. “I just figured. I think my first clue was the time you and Hunnie fucked – props to you, by the way – and Junnie pouted for a month.”

There are so many questions running through Jongdae’s mind he doesn’t even know where to start. He doesn’t get to voice any of them because Yixing swoops in and steals Lu Han away. Jongdae is grateful because he doesn’t have the energy to deal with Lu Han right now, but he thinks he should have done more to convince him that he and Junmyeon are not a thing. Sadly.

As the night moves on, his roommates make random appearances on the table – Kyungsoo swings by for a while, has a couple of drinks with him, but leaves when Chanyeol drags him away to dance – or at least try to; Zitao and Yifan only stop long enough for Zitao to scream in his ear and then run away drunk.

Any other time, Jongdae would join them on the dancefloor, but tonight he’s too hungry and he fears he might bite someone if he isn’t careful enough. He has to hold his breath for long periods of time and focus on the taste of alcohol to keep cool.

By two am, Jongdae is at his last straw. His fangs are grazing his lower lip and if he doesn’t get out now, he’ll have a lot of explaining to do when they find him stuck to a random stranger’s neck.

Jongdae leaves through the back door, squeezing past the people dancing and grinding until he’s near the workers’ lounge. He finds himself in an alley, the buildings too tall for him to see the moon. There are dumpsters lining the wall of the club and it smells awful – dirty diapers, bad fruit, mouldy bread, wet dog.

Before he has time to wonder why it smells like a wet dog if it hasn’t rained in days, Jongdae is slammed against the wall, knocking over one of the dumpsters on his way. There are claws digging into his arms and a snarling monster in his face. The werewolf’s eyes are blood red and his fangs nearly reach his chin, face covered in facial hair and his forehead and chin abnormally swollen. He also looks familiar.

“Jongin?”

It isn’t just Jongdae calling his name. Sehun comes around the corner, surprise flashing across his face before he settles on an expression of amusement. Jongdae watches from underneath a growling Jongin as Sehun takes his sweet time walking towards them, hands in his pockets and looking like a supermodel from hell or some shit. Sehun lays a hand on Jongin’s shoulder and immediately the werewolf stiffens, getting off Jongdae. Jongdae stands up on shaky legs, dusts himself off while keeping a casual eye (or two) on Jongin, who seems to be going back to normal. His facial features return to the usual size where they’d been swollen, he now has two eyebrows instead of just one and his baby face is back, no trace of all the hair that had surged out of nowhere.

“Hyung?” Jongin asks in a tiny voice when he sees Jongdae standing there, eyeing him worriedly. When he realizes what happened, Jongin’s brown eyes widen and he rushes forward, a litany of apologies streaming past his lips while he hugs Jongdae half to death.

After Jongdae convinces him that it’s okay and Jongin no longer looks like he’s going to pass out, Jongdae stares at him and says, “So you’re a werewolf?” Jongin nods meekly. Jongdae turns his eyes to Sehun. “And you are?”

Sehun studies him with a careful glance. Jongdae holds his gaze if only because he’s dead curious to know what Sehun is. “I’m a demon.”

“I could have told you that,” Jongin grumbles. Sehun shoots him a glare, which softens when Jongin pouts and sidles up to him.

“Huh,” is all Jongdae says. He wishes he could say he’s surprised but… he’s really not. “Do you have horns?”

Sehun sighs and beckons him closer with a finger. Once Jongdae is close enough, Sehun lowers his head and parts his hair, revealing tiny little horns protruding from his scalp. They’re red, like Hellboy, but they don’t look like Sehun has to saw them short every day. They’re just there, completely disproportionate to the rest of Sehun.

“Huh,” Jongdae says once more. And that’s the end of it, at least for the night.

 

One week later, Jongdae catches Jongin coming home from Uni and asks if they can talk. The younger boy looks like a deer caught in headlights, already stammering his way through a shitty excuse, but Sehun comes out of literal nowhere and agrees for the two of them.

“I have,” Jongdae stops to counts, “…multiple questions. Number one, Sehun: since when are you a demon? Shouldn’t you be in hell or something?”

Sehun sits Indian style on Chanyeol’s bed, one of the Rilakkuma plushies in his lap. He gives Jongdae a lopsided smile. “Those were two questions,” he says. “So, to answer your first question, I’ve been a demon for a hundred years or so. Give or take a decade.”

Jongdae blinks. “And I’m not in hell because I don’t want to. It’s hot and stuffy and there are way too many people there for my taste. I also hate working administration and I just know that’s totally where my boss would put me if he laid eyes on me this century.” 

“Do you have another form? Physically speaking, I mean.”

Sehun blinks and his eyes turn red. He points to his head and says, “That and my horns. Otherwise, I look completely human.”

“And you,” Jongdae turns an accusing finger at Jongin, “why were you trying to rip me to shreds?”

“It was a full moon,” Jongin defends himself, though he sounds more like a whiny child. “And it was Sehun’s fault anyway; he’s supposed to keep me under control.” Sehun rolls his eyes at the accusation, ignoring Jongin’s pitiful whimpers or the head that’s making its way to the crook of his neck as an apology.  
Jongdae waits for either of them to elaborate. When all they do is look back at him with innocent expressions, Jongdae flails. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sehun sighs like Jongdae is the one being difficult. “As a demon, I have an affinity to other night creatures. When Jongin and I met, we hit it off and found out that I can help keep him concentrated and calm during full moons. I got distracted that night, sure, but it usually works.”

Fear grips at Jongdae at the prospect of Sehun knowing his secret. It doesn’t even make sense because none of his roommates are humans anyway but he doesn’t want them to know he’s been actively lying to them!

But Sehun makes no comment, gives no signs he’s holding anything back and he certainly doesn’t jump out of bed to accuse Jongdae of being a liar and Jongdae wishes he truly is that clueless and not just lying too for his sake.

That would really suck.

“Werewolves,” Jongdae says if only to change the subject. “Don’t they live in packs?”

“Usually,” Jongin confirms. “But my pack lives too far from Uni so I had to get a place closer. That’s why I live here.”

“Do you have cool sub-genders? Are you born a werewolf? Is it like Teen Wolf?”

“We have sub-genders, yeah. I’m a beta. I was born a werewolf. The only similarity we have to Teen Wolf is how alphas and betas are like father and son.”

“It must be cool, being a werewolf and all,” Jongdae says. 

Sehun pouts. “Why are you only asking him stuff? Ask me things too!”

“You were mean to me so shush.”

Sehun’s protests are promptly ignored. Jongin is more than happy to answer all the questions Jongdae has, only stopping momentarily whenever Sehun starts patting his head or petting him, which makes him act like an overexcited puppy.

~

When summer comes, Jongdae has to re-evaluate his life decisions.

He’s used to walking into rooms to strange sights. He lives with the people he lives with, after all. It’s no surprise when he finds Baekhyun and Chanyeol being gross, he no longer blinks when he finds Zitao and Yifan making out - and Yixing and Lu Han? Well, those two are shameless alone, worse when put together.

But this? This is new.

He’s never walked in on one of his roommates floating in the air, pixie dust flying from their hands and falling on the flowers in the garden.

Jongdae tries to wrap his head around the new developments. Lu Han is glowing faintly, about three feet off the ground. His face is longer, pointier, and his hair and skin look perfect. He also has, you know, wings attached to his back.

“Ah, Jongdae,” Lu Han greets him like it’s nothing. He waves, more dust falling from his fingertips with the movement. “I see you’ve found me. Good job, Minseok would be proud.”

All Jongdae can say is, “You know I know?”

Lu Han nods, turning back to his previous activities. He flies from one flower patch to the other, his wings fluttering softly. “Kyungsoo got it out of Minseok about two weeks after he told you. You know how Kyungsoo is, honour is important. We changed the guidelines to the bet but Minseok wasn’t invited this time.”

“That’s fair,” Jongdae nods seriously. “So, you’re a fairy?”

“How’d you know?” Lu Han asks. He sounds genuinely surprised and pleased.

Jongdae shrugs, taking a peek at the flowers in the garden. They’re growing as they talk, blooming prettily. “I’ve been doing my homework,” he says. Jongdae purposely leaves out the fact that he had not one, not two, but three books about fairies when he was a kid.  
“Your face gave it away. And your hair. And, well, the wings were a pretty huge clue too.” Lu Han smiles, proud. “I have nice wings, don’t I? They’re strong, too. Wanna go for a ride?”

And that is how Jongdae finds himself flapping and screaming as Lu Han laughs at him like the shit he is, holding him up by the armpits and soaring through the skies. They circle over the valley behind their house, and if Jongdae isn’t mistaken, he thinks he sees Yifan in dragon form nestled between two mountains, curled around a fucking pile of gold. No wonder he always makes rent on time and unscathed.

When they’re back on safe ground, Lu Han shifts back to his usual human form. Jongdae watches him pick the best flowers and follows him inside, where Lu Han arranges the flowers in a vase and puts them in the middle of the dining table. When he’s done, Lu Han turns to Jongdae expectantly; Jongdae gives him two thumbs up and Lu Han smiles triumphantly.

“I’m an alseid,” Lu Han says out of nowhere. His smile remains intact. “An earth fairy. Not Fae, that’s a common mistake. Alseids are the most common type of fairies.”

Jongdae nods. “I thought fairies were usually… female.”

“Usually,” Lu Han agrees. “But sometimes we’re born males. Like me.”

“And alseids… what do you usually do?”

“We tend to flowers,” Lu Han muses. “We live in places with flowers, like prairies and pretty gardens. I’m one of the weird ones since I chose to live among humans.”

“Why is that weird?” Jongdae asks, just a tad insulted.

Lu Han laughs like he knows what he’s thinking. “Most fairies are afraid of humans and your fake magic – technology. But alseids aren’t, we actually enjoy hanging out with humans, especially if they are artists.”

“Is that why you live with us?” Jongdae guesses. It would make sense, since everyone in the house either sings or dances or plays instruments – some even do all three of those. Some, like Chanyeol, Sehun and Minseok, even rap – pretty great, actually.

Lu Han doesn’t answer, but the smile he shoots Jongdae speaks for itself. “But isn’t that against the rules or something?”

“It used to be,” Lu Han admits. “But years ago, the Fairy Court ruled it out. Now, as long as you’re careful enough not to get caught or trapped or worse, you’re fine.”

“And, what are fairies, exactly?” Jongdae asks. He knows the answer from his childhood books but he wants to know if they match what an actual fairy says.

“Some say fairies are fallen angels. Ancient Greek believed fairies were goddesses capable of influencing mortals’ destinies. Mostly, people think fairies are the spirit of animals and plants. We’re actually the third option. I’m a deer.”

“Should you be telling me this kind of stuff?” Jongdae asks. If one of the rules is that they shouldn’t get caught, then why is Lu Han being so open about his identity?

Lu Han shrugs. He’s now working on the coffee machine, hitting random buttons until it spurts back to life. Jongdae doesn’t know how he does it since the damn thing has been broken for weeks. “My Queen understands you’re important to me. She understands you won’t tell anyone or try anything fishy. And the others are supernatural creatures too; it’s as much their secret as it is mine.”

I’m supernatural too, Jongdae wants to say. This seems like a good opportunity and he knows Lu Han would never hold it against him to have kept it hidden for so long.

But the chance slips away as soon as it comes with the arrival of Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, the older boy shouting loudly about one thing or another. Lu Han looks at Jongdae and rolls his eyes playfully, mutters something about Baekhyun being too loud for his own good and accepts Kyungsoo’s hug rubbing his back when Kyungsoo groans about annoying roommates who need to get better jobs. Jongdae has Baekhyun wrapped around him, complaining about mean roommates who need to remove a stick from their asses. Jongdae indulges him until Yifan gets home from work, which is when Jongdae dumps Baekhyun on him and skips away to the sound of his best friend cursing at him.

~

Fall is around the corner when Jongdae nearly dies in a fire. Not literally, of course, he can’t die - but figuratively speaking, he almost has a heart attack in a burning building.

He’s on his walk home from purchasing textbooks for the semester, his car in the shop because a certain someone – Sehun – should not have a driver’s license, when he smells something burning. At first, he thinks it’s a barbecue place, but he turns the corner and realizes that no, it isn’t a restaurant.

There’s a whole building on flames. The firemen are there, with their big hoses and giant stairs, but Jongdae can hear clearly the sound of people screaming and begging for help from inside the structure.

Before he knows it, Jongdae is already running in. His skin is immune to fire and he doesn’t breathe, so he doesn’t have to worry about dying. Even if something, like a girder or any other part of the construction, falls on him, he can easily shake it off. He can also carry people in groups of three or four and get them out fast.

Jongdae should have become a fireman, now that he thinks about it.

He gets a couple out in record time, then goes back in before the firemen even notice. He checks around the first three floors and finds no one. On the fourth floor, there’s a puppy, standing on a desk and whining as he tries to find a way out. It’s a golden retriever, but he still reminds Jongdae of Baekhyun, which pulls at his heartstrings – Jongdae wastes no time scooping up the puppy and racing out of the room, just in time to avoid the ceiling crashing down.

“Jongdae?”

The vampire whips around at the sound of his name. Chanyeol is there, fireman uniform in disarray, arms laden with a young boy suffering a terrible coughing fit and half-conscious. Jongdae and Chanyeol meet eyes, a silent decision to talk about this later, and rush for the exit. The stairs barely resist their weight, but soon enough they’re outside. Jongdae lets the puppy down, who immediately runs to a little girl standing on the side-lines. He’s about to make a silent yet quick retreat when a hand falls on his shoulder.

Standing behind him is Chanyeol once more, wearing an expression that says Jongdae isn’t going anywhere. Well shit.

“Don’t you have work to get back to?” Jongdae tries.

“They can handle it,” Chanyeol says easily.

Jongdae tries not to wince; lets Chanyeol lead him away from the scene to a quieter alleyway. Jongdae leans against the wall, going for careful nonchalance. Chanyeol notices his behaviour and cracks a smile, which is quickly wiped off when there’s an explosion. The building is now completely engulfed in fire, the flames licking at the night sky. There’s a distressed cry and a lady wrestling the paramedics off her, screaming about her child still inside.

Chanyeol takes off in an instant and is only when he’s disappeared out of sight that Jongdae realizes he’d already taken off the suit. He runs intent on alerting anyone that there’s someone unprotected doing stupidly brave shit inside the building when Kyungsoo swoops in out of nowhere and holds him back. Jongdae wants to ask how come Kyungsoo flew just now, but he gets hushed.

“Just watch,” Kyungsoo tells him. Jongdae pries away from his friend just in time to witness the coolest thing so far.

He’s not sure if it’s the front of the building that’s gone missing or if he’s suddenly developed x-ray vision, but he can clearly see the shape of wings soaking up the flames, a sharp cry like an eagle and a form erupting from the fire. It’s gone before he can even begin to process what he saw, and then Chanyeol is out, carrying a little girl fireman style.

Jongdae asks the sensible thing, first to Kyungsoo, and then to Chanyeol when he’s back. “What the fuck?”

Chanyeol grins sheepishly and it’s hard to fathom that this is the same guy who saves lives for a living. “You get three guesses to what I am.” 

Jongdae thinks hard, but the answer comes easier than he thought. “You’re a phoenix?”

Chanyeol nods, clearly happy Jongdae got it right. Kyungsoo scoffs, murmuring, “That’s not hard to guess, idiot. Now, me…” Chanyeol pouts, flicking Kyungsoo in the arm. The youngest of the three barely bats an eye. Jongdae stares him up and down, trying to discern anything physically different, any tell-tale sign, but comes up empty-handed. All he sees is good ol’ Kyungsoo, shorter than him for half an inch, owlish eyes and red hair shaved at the sides. Jongdae still wonders what possessed him to wear such an un-Kyungsoo like look, but every time he asks he gets shrugged off or somehow roped into doing more chores than he’s supposed to. Eventually, he’s stopped asking. The only different thing about him is his outfit – a helmet, chain-mail tunic and a sword strapped to his torso.

Jongdae shakes his head. “I have no clue. You look normal – I mean, other than the get-up” Kyungsoo nods as he steps back and closes his eyes. Jongdae blinks and all of a sudden Kyungsoo is engulfed in golden light and he looks stronger – not taller, so ha, just a little bit intimidating.

“I’m a Valkyrie,” he says.

Jongdae accepts that. Why not, right? “Alright. I feel like I’ve asked this before, but aren’t those supposed to be like girl angels or something?”

Kyungsoo sighs like he’s been asked this before. “Typically,” he concedes. Jongdae thinks he might elaborate on that but he doesn’t and Jongdae doesn’t push. Instead, he looks at Chanyeol and says, “What’s it like to be a phoenix?”

Chanyeol grins excitedly like he can’t wait to tell Jongdae all about it. “Its super cool, man. Even if I die, I’m reborn from the ashes, like in Harry Potter. And I’m immune to fire and my tears can heal!”

“That does sound awesome,” Jongdae laughs. “Since when?”

“Huh,” Chanyeol thinks, “two hundred years now. But who’s counting?”

“How about you? What’s the Norse deal like?”

“How’d you know Valkyries are Norse?” Kyungsoo asks, genuinely surprised.

Jongdae shrugs. “I read stuff. So?” Stuff being Magnus Chase.

“It’s entertaining,” Kyungsoo hums. “It’s not very fun to watch people die, because often they do so without a weapon in hand so it’s not like I can help them – thankfully, most of them are Catholics so they go to heaven – or at least that’s what they see - and not to Norse limbo but still. When they do have a weapon in hand, even if it’s just a fire extinguisher, they’re considered honourably dead and go to Valhalla.”

“That’s, like, a world, right?” Jongdae asks. “Where they train to fight in the Apocalypse.”

“They become soldiers in Odin’s army and will train until Ragnarok, the day of doom; whatever you want to call it. I usually tag along with Chanyeol to make sure any honourable deaths are brought to attention.”

“Do you enjoy it?” Jongdae asks. He thinks the gig sounds amazing but Kyungsoo is so particular about things he might not even like it.

Kyungsoo thinks for a few seconds before he answers. “I do. In the end, I’m doing something right. I’m giving others a second chance at life, even if they’re dead.” 

That’s honourable in itself, Jongdae thinks. He voices it out loud and makes Kyungsoo blush while Chanyeol exclaims, “I told him the exact same thing and he didn’t believe me!” 

“Well, he has to believe me,” Jongdae demands. “Since I’m the hyung here and the hyung is always right.”

“Debatable but continue,” Kyungsoo mumbles. Jongdae gasps and hits his arm, falling into step with them when Chanyeol is cleared to go once the fire has been put out.

“You said Catholics see heaven,” Jongdae recalls, “what does that mean?”

Kyungsoo pauses. He’s actually blocking the entrance to the hole-in-the-wall shop Chanyeol likes to eat fried shrimp at, but there aren’t many people on the streets and the sole worker is greeting Chanyeol with a familiar call of his name and a, “I’m guessing your usual?”

“Of course!” Chanyeol exclaims as he takes a seat on one of the three stools on the counter. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo is thinking about Jongdae’s question. He says, “It is my understanding that, after you die, you will most likely see whatever you believed in while you were alive. So, if you were a Catholic, you’ll see Heaven or Hell, depending on what you deserve. In reality, you could be in Valhalla, Folkvanger or Helheim – you already know what Valhalla is, right? Well, Folkvanger is like the sunny side up eggs equivalent to Valhalla and Helheim is the emo, depressive black sheep of the family. You don’t want to go there, trust me.” 

“Noted,” Jongdae nods. “Yah, Park Chanyeol. I have questions for you too.”

Chanyeol looks up from his food with wide eyes. He looks like a deer caught in headlights, except this particular deer has the end of a shrimp hanging out of his mouth. “What does this whole phoenix business entail?” Jongdae asks.

“It’s really cool,” Chanyeol shares excitedly. “Like I told you, I can’t exactly die since I’m reborn from my ashes. Although that only applies if I die in a fire; otherwise I’m reborn as a baby. So, it isn’t all that convenient because that means I have to relive my whole life again and that sucks because my loved ones often die before I can find them again.”

Chanyeol frowns, looking down at his dinner. Jongdae frowns too, kicks at his ankle to get his attention. “You’ll always have me, Yeol.”

“Unless you die,” Chanyeol sulks. Jongdae shuts his mouth because there’s no way he can deny that without giving himself away. Kyungsoo remains silent and only speaks again to suggest they pick Baekhyun up from his work. Chanyeol only brightens up again when Baekhyun slips out of the club, dressed down in sweats and his face devoid of makeup. His hair is soft without all the products he uses to work and even if he has some stray bits of glitter on his cheeks and neck, he looks remarkably soft tonight. It successfully brings a smile to Chanyeol’s face to see him, pulling him into a hug and murmuring something about not wanting Baekhyun to die.

“Uh, what brought this on?” Baekhyun asks. He’s a little nervous, especially because they’re still near his workstation and he doesn’t want any of his clients to see him outside of the club.

“Chanyeol was telling Jongdae about the downs of being a phoenix,” Kyungsoo explains, taking Baekhyun’s duffel bag from him so he can hug his boyfriend properly. Baekhyun’s mouth forms an ‘oh’ and he immediately gets to comforting him, telling him things like ‘you silly puppy, I’m not going anywhere.’ Despite himself, Jongdae feels a sharp stab of longing in his stomach at the sight of the two of them.

He can’t help but think about Junmyeon and how he wishes he could hold him like that. It’s sappy and ridiculous but it applies to them because Jongdae, too, fears that one day Junmyeon will be gone and he’ll be alone. Then he’s reminded that he and Junmyeon aren’t even a thing and that just makes him sadder.

Next to him, Kyungsoo looks torn between fondness and exasperation as he stares at the two. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are still tangled in each other but at least now Jongdae thinks Chanyeol is more relaxed. He even cracks a smile, a real smile, when Kyungsoo scoffs, “Enough already. Let’s go home, I’m exhausted.”

The trek back home is filled with easy banter between them. Jongdae has always felt the most at ease when he’s with them, just the four of them. He doesn’t know why – at first, he suspected it had something to do with how close in age they are, but Sehun and Lu Han are four years apart and yet they are just as close as Jongdae is to his friend. Maybe it’s just the way they all fit together, Chanyeol’s loud laughter, Kyungsoo’s deadpan tones, Baekhyun with his quick tongue and Jongdae himself, filling in the rare silences with an excited shout. Whatever it is, Jongdae holds it dear to his heart.

And when he and Chanyeol slither into their shared room, Baekhyun dragging Kyungsoo to their own room with a saccharine grin and a flirtatious wave sent their way, Jongdae wants to reassure Chanyeol that he will always have him. Even if he dies and comes back to life, Jongdae will be there to find him.

“Hey, Chanyeol,” Jongdae whispers to the dead of the night. Chanyeol makes a grunt, too busy fighting with his hoodie to formulate a proper reply. “When you… revive, do you have your memories? I mean, I guess you do, but -” 

“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, quietly, careful not to step on Sehun’s limp hand dangling from his bed. “Why? Do you want to hear about my exploits?”

“Who the fuck even uses the word exploits, gosh, hyung,” Sehun mumbles sleepily. He turns away from them and starts snoring without a second wasted.

“Maybe some other time,” Jongdae giggles. Chanyeol flashes him a smile, his teeth glinting in the moonlight seeping in through their window and wishes him a goodnight before he climbs into the top bunk.

~

When it’s time again for Jongdae to go hunting, he’s been driving himself crazy worrying about who’ll be next to reveal themselves to him. He knows it’s down to Zitao, Yixing, and Junmyeon – but he doesn’t know what they are or who’s gonna do it now. He’s tried guessing, he’s tried weaselling out of the others and he’s tried both at the same time, but he always gets shot down and brushed off by his damn roommates.

“I’m going out!” Jongdae shouts. He grabs his keys and is out the door before anyone can answer. He drives around town looking for a new club because the ones he frequents are getting too stuffy for his taste. Finally, he finds a place – it is smaller than he’s used to and it doesn’t look as high end as the one in Itaewon he loves, but it’s private and there’s a steady stream of people going in and out. 

Upon entering, Jongdae is hit with the scent of blood mixed with alcohol and a cacophony of drugs. It’s very common for these places to offer drugs since it helps make the hypnosis easier. Jongdae pushes past the crowd until he reaches the bar, where he nestles between a large man in his late forties nursing a whisky and a younger boy who looks like he’s way in over his head.

Jongdae immediately likes him but doesn’t choose him – he’s not that much into people who don’t know what they got themselves into. He prefers it when his donors know what’s happening and he only has to erase the memory of his face and super-fake name he gives out. Besides, from the looks he’s getting from the big man, the guy had already called dibs on this one and was working on an opening line.

So as soon as Jongdae gets his drink – a martini, because fuck you and your gender standards – he ventures out into the rest of the club. Further towards the back are booths and tall tables, some of them occupied and some free. He can see a barely lit hallway to his right with multiple doors down the hall, probably the feeding chambers or something equally cringey like that. He decides not to take his donor there.

Jongdae walks around for a while, searching around for anyone that catches his eye. He’s unsuccessful for almost an hour until he spots a boy entering the club with some of his friends. Jongdae has a type and this one checks all the items – he’s a tad taller than Jongdae, so he has easier neck access; he seems healthy, not too fit but not too shabby either, so his blood will probably taste nice, and that’s it. Jongdae never claimed to be too picky.

He approaches the boy when he goes to the bar. Jongdae waits for him to place an order so he can have something to talk about. And when the boy orders a fucking martini, Jongdae about loses it. He almost says ‘ay’ out loud before he reminds himself he’s only supposed to say that ironically and online. Or when texting their group chat, if only because he knows it makes Kyungsoo’s neck vein pop.

“Hey,” he says instead. “I haven’t seen you around before.”

Jongdae really hopes this kid isn’t a regular and catches his bluff. Thankfully, the boy blushes, nodding in Jongdae’s direction. “First time coming here.” “How’d you hear about this place?” Jongdae asks carefully. He wants to make sure he knows what he’s doing and didn’t just end up coming here by accident. And if that’s the case, then Jongdae will have to do one hell of a job getting him out and convincing him not to come back.

The boy’s face does this thing where he pales and blushes at the same time and his expression morphs into something akin to embarrassment and worry. “A friend of a friend,” is all he says. But Jongdae understands the message.

“Got it,” he smiles.

He continues to talk to the boy for some time – he finds out his name is Jinhwan, he’s nineteen and he met this friend of a friend two weeks ago as he left his night lecture to go home. He doesn’t say much about the encounter; just enough for Jongdae to understand that whoever bit him was kind enough to leave a note before he left. Around midnight, Jinhwan is buzzed and Jongdae is starving. He thinks that, if he weren’t so hungry, he would leave Jinhwan alone and maybe try staying friends, because he’s funny and really fucking cute. But alas, his fangs are getting really annoying, so he takes Jinhwan to the back alley.

“Aren’t there rooms inside to do this?” Jinhwan asks, his words slurring together a little bit.

“There are, but I can assure you they probably haven’t been cleaned since the club opened,” Jongdae answers easily. He doesn’t have a lot of patience to walk him all the way to the back, so he simply leads Jinhwan far enough they’re hidden in the shadows and pushes him to the wall, perhaps rougher than necessary.

“Hey,” Jinhwan protests with a huff.

“Sorry,” Jongdae groans. “I’m just starving.”

“Okay,” Jinhwan nods. He’s either getting second thoughts or really excited about this because his heart rate picks up. Jongdae makes sure to get explicit consent before he’s pulling at the collar of Jinhwan’s shirt and pressing his face into his neck.  
Jinhwan’s blood smells sweet and tastes heavenly. Jongdae has to practice a lot of self-control not to milk him dry and instead settles for licking at the trickles of blood flowing down his neck after he detaches his fangs from his skin, satisfied after a minute of drinking directly from the metaphorical bottle. Jinhwan is slack in his hold, obviously worn out from the experience, and Jongdae promises to buy him a happy meal in the nearest McDonald’s as long as he doesn’t pass out. He thinks Jinhwan grunts in agreement.

Jinhwan stays conscious, so Jongdae stays true to his word and takes him to McDonald’s. He even buys some fries for himself and keeps Jinhwan company until he’s done with his meal and his skin is back to a healthy pink.

“Want me to walk you home? Or to the subway or something?” Jongdae offers. Jinhwan hesitates but ultimately declines. “My flat isn’t too far from here, anyway,” he says. “Uh, see you around?” he asks.

“Sure thing,” Jongdae laughs. “I know where to find you and you know where to find me.”

As soon as they part ways, Jongdae thinks that maybe he did make a new friend after all. The sated feeling after feeding stays with him for the next few blocks, along with the prospect of someone else to talk to other than his annoying roommates. He’s only about twenty meters away from where he parked his car when he hears scuffling, a shout of pain that gets cut off almost right away and the sound of something hitting the ground hard.

Curiosity gets the best of him and Jongdae scoots closer to the alley he heard the commotion coming from, peering around to check it out.

At first, he’s not entirely sure what he’s looking at. Not because he can’t make it out in the dark, because he can – he just fed and his senses are at their highest peak. But because the sight is so bizarre.

There’s a man. There’s blood. And there’s a fox.

Jongdae rubs his eyes just in case. There’s still a man, blood, and a fox. The man is on the ground, unmoving, face up. The blood seems (Jongdae knows) that it’s coming from the man. And the fox is eating him.

From the looks of it, the fox is eating his insides and not the outside – Jongdae can make out the form of an intestine getting slurped up by the animal. Jongdae isn’t a hypocrite, but that was disgusting. Before he realizes, he’s making a choked off noise. The fox looks up right away, staring at Jongdae dead in the eye.

Jongdae will later think about it and remember how the animal’s eyes were oddly human.

At the moment, however, all he thinks is “oh shit” and runs away before he’s next. Even with vampire speed, the fox is too fast and too close to his heels for comfort; Jongdae can barely shut his car door and start the engine in time to escape the animal’s sharp teeth.  
As he speeds down the deserted boulevard, Jongdae feels relief for about a second before he sees the fox still chasing him. 

“Come on,” Jongdae mutters, along with a few choice words. He tries to shake it off several times, but the damn thing is obviously set on getting him and won’t give up. Jongdae considers fleeing to the shared home and get help from his supernatural roommates, but he doesn’t think it would be too fair if he were to dump all his problems on them. Even if said problem wants to rip his throat out.

So instead, he takes a sharp left and heads for the woods, thinking that he can either wear the fox out until he’s too tired to give him chase, or he will have to fight to death with it. He drives down the dirt road, the car running over sticks and branches that crunch under the weight. He ends up in a small clearing not much bigger than the car and gets out, waiting for the fox to appear from the trees. Except the fox never comes and instead, a disgruntled Zitao walks out.

“Don’t panic,” Zitao says pointedly.

Jongdae does something he hasn’t done in a while. Once the information kicks into his brain, he screams bloody murder. He just saw Zitao, sweet young Zitao, murder a man and eat his guts.

Clearly, Zitao understands what the yelling is all about and he takes two steps back, hands raised to show he’s not a threat. “Woah, hyung, relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” 

“You… you,” Jongdae sputters. He doesn’t have words to describe what’s going through his mind. He wants to trust Zitao, but his survival instincts are saying something completely different. Nothing else comes out, so Jongdae screams again.

“Hyung! Stop screaming!” Zitao begs. Jongdae doesn’t feel like damaging his vocal chords anymore, so he stops. “Thank you. Now, I know what you think you saw.”

“Oh, I know what I saw,” Jongdae stutters. “You killed that man and then you ate him.”

“I killed a pimp, who almost beat one of his girls to death an hour earlier, and I ate his organs.”

“That doesn’t make it much better, Taozi,” Jongdae tells him.

Zitao rolls his eyes. “Don’t you get it? I only kill bad people. And I sort of have to kill them to survive myself, since I eat human organs.” A pause. “Probably not the right thing to say, huh?”

Jongdae shakes his head slowly. He’s paler than he was before. “Okay, how about this? Hyung, you don’t have to worry about me hurting you, since you’re a good guy. Alright?”

“Alright,” Jongdae whispers. “So, what are you?”

“A ghoul,” Zitao says simply, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s sort of a demon. I eat organs. I could survive from animal guts, sure, but I find it much more useful if I rid the city of its trash.”

Jongdae blinks. He can see where Zitao is going with this, even if he’s not over the sight of the intestines and the fox’s eyes staring right at him. “Alright. I guess I can understand that. Um, what about the fox?”

“That’s the shape I take when I’m going to feed,” Zitao explains. He walks closer to Jongdae, albeit slowly, as if waiting to see if his hyung will freak out further or not. When Jongdae doesn’t flinch, Zitao walks around the car and takes a seat on the passenger’s side, motioning for Jongdae to sit next to him. Jongdae gets back in the car and starts the engine. As he drives out of the forest and back into the highway so he can get them home, Zitao explains about ghouls and how he came to become one.

“A ghoul attacked me,” he says. “The guy thought I was dead until I went, ‘surprise, bitch!’ on his ass.” 

Quite similar to Jongdae’s own experience, except his sire wasn’t all that surprised he survived. Well, at least one of them was taking it easy. Jongdae was three seconds away from flipping his shit when the old man finally decided to explain things to him.  
By the time they get home, Zitao is knocked out on the passenger’s seat, snoring quietly against the window. That doesn’t mean Jongdae is letting him off so easily. He shakes his shoulder repeatedly until Zitao snorts awake, head whipping from side to side before his eyes settle on Jongdae and the tense line of his back seeps away.

“I have questions, Taozi,” Jongdae reminds him. “Let’s get inside.”

There are a few lights still on in the house, no doubt courtesy of Yixing. He always leaves some lights on so the others can make their way through the house without bumping anything. Jongdae takes Zitao’s wrist and leads him to the living room, plops down on the couch and pats the seat next to him with an easy grin. Zitao sits down with his eyelids halfway closed.

Jongdae elbows him softly. “Don’t fall asleep on me, kid. Come on, where do ghouls come from?”

“That’s a complicated question,” Zitao yawns. “Etymologically, the word ghoul comes from Arabic, which means ‘to seize’. Ghouls are demons, undead monsters, we’re usually associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh. In ancient Arabian folklore, ghouls delved in burial grounds and other shit like that. In some cultures, ghouls are thought to be shapeshifting demons that turn into different animals to lure their victims into deserted areas to kill them.”

“That’s you, right?” Jongdae interrupts. 

Zitao nods. “To be honest, all those are correct. It just depends on where you are. So, in Arabic places, you find ghouls lurking around cemeteries. There weren’t any ghouls in South Korea originally, but about twenty years ago they started migrating here. I came from China and about two weeks in the country I got attacked by a ghoul. Now, usually, ghouls don’t leave survivors. But I guess something went wrong with me and I simply changed.”

“No offense, but you sounded like you were reciting a Wikipedia article,” Jongdae giggles. 

“That’s because I was,” Zitao admits. “I ended up memorizing the damn thing after the third time I read it.”

“Are you immortal?” Jongdae asks. The idea has just sprung in his mind – Zitao said he’s a demon, right? Shouldn’t that make him immortal?

“I am,” he confirms. “I’m not sure if there’s anything that can kill a ghoul and I’ve never bothered to find out."

Zitao yawns again then, making Jongdae feel bad for keeping him up so late. “Go to bed now, Taozi. I got my answers already anyway.”

All he receives is a sleepy wave in return. However, when Jongdae closes his eyes and tips his head back, determined to just spend the night on the couch, he feels a peck on his cheek. He opens his eyes to see Zitao looking down at the ground shyly and he murmurs, “Thank you for not hating me, hyung.”

“I’d never hate you, Taozi,” Jongdae grins sweetly. Zitao smiles back and shuffles out of the living room. Jongdae shakes his head and forces himself to get up; no point in sleeping on the couch, anyway.

~

If Yixing weren’t so cute, Jongdae would have turned around and headed back to the house a long time ago. Jongdae isn’t scared of the forest, not even at night, and he’s not exactly fearing for his life either, but Yixing refuses to tell him where they’re going or why he had the need to drag Jongdae out of bed at ass crack o’clock at night.

Jongdae trips over branches and fallen trees, which isn’t fun at all. He’s complaining a much as he can in the hopes that Yixing will free him of his misery, to no avail. Finally, after what feels like an eternity (but in reality, isn’t more than an hour) they stop by a big tree and Yixing turns around to look at him.

“Close your eyes,” he tells Jongdae. Jongdae raises an unbelieving eyebrow. 

“Uh, no thanks,” he says. “I love you, hyung, but I’m not closing my eyes in the middle of the woods with someone who’s recently swapped my shaving cream with whipped cream and nearly laughed himself into a coma.”

Yixing cracks a smile at the memory but stops when Jongdae’s scowl deepens. He clears his throat and says, “Well, I guess that’s fair.”

He then takes several steps back, until he’s a few good meters away from Jongdae. Yixing sends Jongdae a thumb up and closes his eyes. Jongdae watches with rapt attention the way Yixing starts glowing softly, then brighter and brighter until he’s indistinguishable.

When the light fades out once more, where Yixing used to stand, is now a white, huge, beautiful unicorn.

Jongdae gapes, more than he normally does when his roommates show him the weird shit they’re involved in. He steps forward, hand stretched out to touch and pet Yixing, but falters when he’s only a meter away, stumbling backward and his hand falls to his side. There’s something inside him that doesn’t want him to touch the unicorn, even though the child in him wants nothing more than to just do it.

His doubts are quenched when Yixing is the one to approach him. Jongdae squeals like a twelve-year-old girl being gifted the latest Barbie when his fingers graze the soft hair on his nape, petting the unicorn with wonder. He’s pretty sure he could pass off as the ‘heart eyes motherfucker’ vine dude and he’s totally cool with that.

The petting and caressing go on for a few more minutes until Yixing whines, shakes his head, and moves back. The same light show goes down and Yixing is back, still dressed in his worn-out sweatpants and the baggy T-shirt he’d been lounging in around the house. It’s almost ridiculous how normal he looks when ten seconds ago he was a fucking unicorn.

“I guess some explanations are in order,” Yixing says simply. “Come on, let’s take a seat.” 

Yixing might be okay with sitting on the dirty ground but Jongdae isn’t. He tries to find a fallen tree branch thick enough for him to sit on, to no avail. Yixing gets fed up with him at some point and pats his own thigh repeatedly until Jongdae relents and sits there.

Jongdae attempts to come off as nonchalant as possible when he asks, “So you’re a unicorn, huh?”

“Yep,” Yixing nods. He’s smiling teasingly at Jongdae, almost mockingly, like he knows Jongdae isn’t the most comfortable right now and the knowledge brings him great pleasure. It probably does, the little fucker. “Pretty, aren’t I?”

“Sure,” Jongdae shrugs. He wants to say he’s majestic but that might not be good for his ego. “For a glorified horse.”

Yixing shoves him off with a scowl. Jongdae laughs until his sides hurt and then some more. He doesn’t care anymore about his jeans getting soiled by the dirt because Yixing’s insulted expression was worth it. He calms down long enough to ask, “Since when are you a unicorn?”

“I was born one,” Yixing grumbles, still pouting a little. Jongdae climbs back into his lap as an apology. “We’re a little rare now but go back a few hundred years and you’ll find we were everywhere around the globe.”

“You’re not the first to tell me that lately,” Jongdae hums. “That’s too bad.”

“It’s evolution,” Yixing says. “The world no longer is what it used to be and creatures like us can no longer thrive the way we did before. We had our time and that time is running out but that’s not something to be sad about. Bigger and better things are to come, I’m sure. I’m just happy I got to be born one of the last unicorns and to live with my friends.”

“You’re a very simple man, Zhang Yixing,” Jongdae laughs, “if you can call being a unicorn simple.”

Yixing smiles at him, his little dimple making a full appearance. Jongdae has to smile back because Yixing is just too cute to ignore. “Do you have any powers?”

“Our horn can heal sickness, as well as turn poisoned water potable.”

“Are you really in the Bible?” 

Yixing laughs and turns to look at Jongdae with bewilderment. “What?!”

Jongdae splutters to defend himself. “In Catholic school,” Jongdae starts, “one of the professors would tell us interesting Bible stories and he would mention unicorns multiple times. Or rather, it mentioned a creature called re’em, which some describe like a unicorn.”  
“Then I guess I’m in the Bible,” Yixing laughs again. “That’s really cool though, I didn’t know that.”

“You learn something new every day,” Jongdae teases. Yixing pushes him again, but this time Jongdae is prepared for it and stays put.

They go back inside when the sun is dipping low in the sky and it’s getting too cold for them to stay outside any longer. Upon entering through the double doors, Yixing is tackled to the ground by Lu Han, who wails about missing his soulmate. Jongdae actually gets hissed at by the older man when he offers his hand for Yixing to take so he can help him off the floor and Jongdae steps back with both hands raised in surrender.

“Dinner is ready!” Kyungsoo hollers from the kitchen. There’s a tiny jam as everyone tries to squeeze in at the same time, and while Lu Han’s attention is on Yifan, swatting at him for one thing or another, Jongdae shares a look with Yixing and they both start giggling like children into their hands.

~

Jongdae doesn’t know what to expect when Junmyeon knocks on his bedroom door one fine day. Jongdae is just about to email his History of Art assignment to his professor, two days before the deadline because Jongdae isn’t anything but efficient and responsible, and promptly bangs his knee on the underside of the desk when Junmyeon pokes his head in and smiles at him.

God almighty, if you can hear me, please smite me down right this second. I can die in peace now.

“Hyung,” Jongdae squeaks. He wants to punch himself in the face. “What’s up?”

What’s up?

Junmyeon steps in fully, taking a seat on the edge of Jongdae’s bed. It’ll smell like him now, Jongdae thinks, although he isn’t sure whether he likes the idea or hates it.

“Jongdae-yah,” Junmyeon starts, falls silent, licks his lip distractedly, then continues, “would you like to go get coffee with me today?”

“Uh, sure…?” Jongdae replies, although it comes out more of a question. “Should I tell Lu Han-hyung and Minseok-hyung, too? They were telling me about a new place and -”

“No!” Junmyeon exclaims. Jongdae stops mid-sentence, eyes wide in surprise. Junmyeon coughs embarrassedly, hiding his face for a second behind a fist. When his hand falls to his lap, Jongdae is surprised to find he’s blushing. “I was thinking we could go… just the two of us. If that’s okay with you, that is.”

“Like a date?” Jongdae blurts out. He hadn’t meant to ask it out loud because he knows it’s stupid, but he couldn’t help but feel a sparkle of hope rise in his chest. Except Junmyeon says, "Yeah," and Jongdae thinks he’s suddenly plunged into an alternate universe where his crush isn’t hopeless and impossible.

Jongdae thinks he nods. He’s honestly too shocked to say anything, but at least he can do that much. Junmyeon beams, tells him to be ready around four pm, then skips out of the room. Jongdae stares at the closed door, his head swimming.

Sehun comes in ten minutes later to find Jongdae in the exact same position. All he does is poke his forehead and hit send on the email Jongdae had typed earlier.

They go to the same café Minseok had recommended Jongdae. But before that, Jongdae had a total meltdown.

Sehun dodges the third shirt thrown his way in Jongdae’s quest for a suitable outfit. Baekhyun has his knees drawn to his chest where he’s seated next to Sehun on the bed, agreeing or disagreeing with all of Jongdae’s shirts. Chanyeol occasionally gives his opinion, although mostly he’s more occupied with stuffing his face full of shrimp flavoured chips.

“I don’t understand why what you wear is so important,” Kyungsoo sighs. “Junmyeon-hyung likes your face, a testimony to his terrible taste – if his own fashion choices weren’t proof enough already.”

“I have to look good, Soo!” Jongdae whines. He flops on top of Kyungsoo on the desk chair but gets pushed off almost right away. “I can’t just show up looking like a bum.”

“You do that every day when you go to class anyway,” Kyungsoo grumbles. Jongdae ignores him in favour of going back to his closet.

“How about that one?” Chanyeol suggests. His bag of chips is crumpled and lying on the floor. Jongdae decides not to chide him this time. “The blue one?”

“This one?” Jongdae plucks a light blue dress shirt from its hanger and shows it to the rest. Chanyeol nods, indicating that is the one he was talking about. Sehun nods to show he agrees with the choice. Baekhyun smiles.

“I got you that shirt,” he gloats. Jongdae rolls his eyes fondly. “And yeah, I like it. It goes well with your hair.”

“I have black hair,” Jongdae points out. “Everything goes well with black hair.” 

Baekhyun purses his lips in disagreement, but thankfully he doesn’t argue. “Wear those dark jeans too,” he suggests. Jongdae digs the aforementioned pants from the bottom of his closet and lays them on the bed along with the shirt.

“Shoes,” he declares.

“Just wear whatever,” Kyungsoo groans. Jongdae shoots him a pout. With a little more help and a lot more whining, Jongdae finally feels like he’s presentable enough to go on a date with Junmyeon.

And now he finds himself on said date, and his stomach is turning in on itself. Junmyeon looks painfully handsome in a simple V-neck black sweater and washed out jeans, his smile easy and charming. Jongdae wants to kiss him so, so bad. 

The bell above the door tinkles when they enter the café. There’s a counter right in front of them, and the rest of the café is occupied by tables and the far wall is a long cement booth with soft cushions and throw pillows as seats.

They choose to sit at a window table, a waiter bringing them their menus before bowing and walking away quickly.

Truth be told, Jongdae feels a little awkward. He’s never been alone with Junmyeon for so long before, and he’s racking his brain for any conversation starters that don’t sound like complete shit.

“Jongdae,” Junmyeon suddenly speaks up. “I know you know about everyone else. And you’re probably wondering about me.”

Jongdae nods, not sure of where this is going. Their waiter comes back to take their order but Junmyeon smiles kindly and asks for a few more minutes to decide. When the waiter is gone, Junmyeon turns back to Jongdae and this time his smile is more reserved, timid. “I just want to tell you right ahead. I want to pursue a relationship with you but I don’t want to do it with secrets between us.”

“Alright…” Jongdae drags out. He looks at Junmyeon expectantly.

Junmyeon takes a deep breath. “I’m an angel.” 

Jongdae wants to stand up on the table and shout “I fucking called it!” but he doesn’t. that would be rude and would probably attract unwanted attention from the patrons in the café. He settles for a shrug and a, “I guess I can see it. But why were you so worried about telling me? I was expecting something horrible, like you’re Satan or something. Which could explain your relationship with Sehun and how you can get him to do whatever you say, but…”

“Not worried, exactly. Being an angel isn’t a bad thing,” Junmyeon explains. “But it’s more like – I know the Church and the Catholic religion have lost followers in the past centuries, especially with their more radical views and since I know you’re gay and everything, I wasn’t sure how you would react.”

Jongdae shrugs. “I believe in God, not the Church. I don’t care about what the Bible or whatever says, God didn’t write it.”

Jongdae doesn’t even think what he says might be considered offensive until he says it. Thankfully, Junmyeon just smiles and accepts it.

Their date goes a lot smoother after that. Junmyeon loosens up and asks Jongdae about multiple topics, like school and his deadlines and major. Jongdae, in turn, asks about Junmyeon’s job.

But one thing is picking at Jongdae’s conscience. Junmyeon said he wanted a relationship with no secrets. Junmyeon came clean to him about being an angel yet Jongdae didn’t say anything about his own nature.

“Hyung,” Jongdae says, accidentally interrupting Junmyeon mid-sentence. “I have something to confess too.”

Junmyeon leans back in his seat and waits. Jongdae gathers his bearings, struggling to find the words.

“I’m a vampire,” he confides quietly. For further proof, he cups his hands around his mouth and bares his fangs, careful not to let anyone else see. Junmyeon looks at his teeth, then back at Jongdae. He nods. “Cool. Since when?”

“A year or two,” Jongdae tells him, hiding his fangs again. He’s a little disappointed Junmyeon didn’t have a bigger reaction but he’s also grateful to the other man for not making a big deal or getting mad. “I was turned on purpose.”

“Really?” Junmyeon’s eyebrows raise comically. “How so?” 

“My sire said he wanted a successor, an heir. He’s old, even by vampire standards, and he said he was ready to die once and for all.” 

“Die?”

Jongdae hums. “When vampires go too long without moving – a couple of years, at least – we turn to stone. He said that’s what he wants.”

“And how did he choose you?” Junmyeon asks. 

“He said he’d been watching me for some time – creepy, I know - and that he thought I was a good candidate. He sorts of jumped me on my way to work and bit me. it was terrifying,” Jongdae chuckles. “I actually haven’t seen him in months. He said he had some business to take care of and that he would contact me when he was ready to hand down his stuff.”

“Stuff like what?” Junmyeon laughs.

“Like, real estate and stuff,” Jongdae rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. “He has a lot of money.”

“Does that mean that coffee is on you today?”

Jongdae throws him a napkin. “Let’s talk about you, though. What kind of angel are you?” 

“I’m a guardian angel,” Junmyeon answers. “Kyungsoo’s.”

“Wait, seriously?” Jongdae gasps. “But, isn’t he involved with the Norse and shit?”

“Well, yes,” Junmyeon concedes. “But the existence of Odin and Freya doesn’t exclude the existence of capital g God.”

“Does Kyungsoo know?” Jongdae asks.

Junmyeon shakes his head. “He knows I’m an angel, but he doesn’t know I’m his. None of them does, actually. They just know I’m an angel living on Earth at the moment.”

“But how does that work? I thought you met Kyungsoo for the first time when we moved in,” Jongdae says.

“I’ve been watching over him his whole life. But then I had a reason to become more personally involved.”

“And that is?”

Junmyeon looks at him pointedly and oh. Jongdae refuses to blush. 

 

“You should tell the others,” Junmyeon tells him after they leave the café.

“I know,” Jongdae moans miserably. “But how?! I’ve been lying to you guys for so long, even after y’all started coming to me with your secrets. I’m a terrible friend.”

Junmyeon claps a hand down on Jongdae’s shoulder. “I don’t think they’ll be too upset.” Jongdae hopes he’s right.

~

He gathers all his roommates in the living room three days later. He’s been giving himself unsuccessful pep talks for the past seventy-two hours and now all he has is bold honesty and desperation to salvage his friendships.

“Guys, I have something important to tell you,” he begins. Jongdae stays silent and stares pointedly at Baekhyun until his best friend locks his phone with an eye roll and folds his hands in his lap. They have a silent stare down until Jongdae looks away. “I’ve been lying to you for some time.”

They all look at him impassively.

“I’m a vampire,” Jongdae says.

There’s absolute silence in the living room while all his friends look at him. Finally, Baekhyun says, “Wait, are we supposed to act surprised?”

“Gay gasp,” Sehun deadpans, going back to his phone. Jongin giggles quietly, smothering the laugh into Sehun’s shoulder.

“You knew?!” Jongdae demands. Most of them nod – except for Chanyeol, that is. 

“Wait, what? How did I not know about this? Baekhyunnie, why didn’t you tell me?!” 

“I thought it was obvious…?” Baekhyun stares at his boyfriend with judging eyes. Chanyeol pouts. “It wasn’t to me,” he mumbles. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him.

“Hold on a second,” Jongdae whirls around to where Junmyeon is perched on the armrest of the loveseat. “Did you know?”

Junmyeon smiles. “It really was pretty obvious, Jongdae-yah.”

Jongdae wants to tear his hair out. All this worrying, for nothing? He feels like Booboo the Fool. He wants to crawl into his bed and never come out, but he remembers something else he had to say.

“Chanyeol-ah,” he calls, dropping to sit next to his taller friend. Chanyeol is still pouting and ignoring Baekhyun’s prodding fingers trying to tickle him. “Hey, look at me. At least this means you won’t be losing me?” he offers in consolation and watches the way Chanyeol’s eyes light up. “We can continue to terrorize people for a long time, right? And even if you die, I’ll still be right here. We’ll find each other, yeah?” Chanyeol nods, absolutely beaming in delight. He launches himself at Jongdae and hugs the life out of him while Jongdae laughs and pets his back and hair. 

“Aw,” Sehun and Zitao drawl at the same time. Sehun points to himself and Zitao and says, “You also have us, remember?”

“And me,” Junmyeon raises his hand. Yifan and Yixing follow suit.

“Elves live for a really long time,” Minseok pipes up.

“As do fairies. And it is my understanding that a little someone has something of a pact with the devil so he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon either,” Lu Han says, staring at Jongin who blushes and avoids his gaze.

“But what about…?” Jongdae trails off, looking at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo.

“I might be human,” Kyungsoo supplies, “but I can always make sure I die with a weapon in hand so I can go to Valhalla. That way, I can still visit Midgard – just make sure I don’t get killed while here, alright? Then I’ll really be dead.”

Chanyeol looks at Baekhyun with sad eyes. Baekhyun sighs. “Stop giving me those eyes. There are plenty of things we can do to make sure I stick around for as long as possible, so don’t worry.”

Chanyeol turns the puppy eyes to Jongdae. “I’ll think about it,” he says, shooting a wink towards Baekhyun, who winks back. Chanyeol is soothed lightly, though he still holds Baekhyun like he’s worried he might disappear if he lets go.

Everyone leaves to do their own thing minutes later. Jongdae takes the chance and corners Junmyeon in the kitchen when the older man goes to get something to drink. “You’re an ass,” he informs him.

Junmyeon laughs cutely. “Sorry. How can I make it up to you?”

Jongdae says the first thing that comes to mind. “Kiss me.”

The glass nearly slips from Junmyeon’s grasp, but it is thankfully salvaged by Jongdae’s quick reflexes. He puts it carefully on the counter and waits for an answer. Junmyeon clears his throat. “Come here, then.”

Their kiss is short and sweet – Junmyeon tastes like mint. Jongdae is addicted. When they pull apart mere seconds after, Jongdae can’t help the giggle that escapes his mouth. Junmyeon is smiling like a fool.

“Get a room,” Lu Han gags.


End file.
